The Year of the Really Strict Band Director
by ToriKisu
Summary: Quackers, RexBob, Tuga, and Nicky find out the truth about their band camp this year, & no one believes them. More & more members are getting warnings. What's gonna happen?..(note from me: I put this novel aside for over a year but decided to write more)
1. Quackers' car won't start

Brriiiiinnnngggg! Brriiiiinnnngggg! Quackers' alarm went off earlier than ever, 5:30 am. Band camp began that morning. The one week of the whole summer she dreads. Marching band is the best thing about school, but having to get up early, rain or shine, doesn't exactly thrill her.

She gets out of bed thinking, camp's not all that bad.

And it wasn't. Lights out was late at night, and you could stay up all night if wanted to. The part she hated was the marching part.

Quackers pulled on her favorite monkey shirt she got for her birthday and a pair of shorts. "Hmm, it still needs something" she said aloud. Finally, after rummaging through her closet she pulled out a blue Kwik-E-Mart sun visor and a pair of blue rimmed sunglasses. She put them on and admired herself in the mirror. "There! Now I am ready for camp"

Quackers, which isn't her real name by the way, left her room and went out to the living room where her mom was already sitting, watching the news.

"Mom, what are you doing? You didn't have to get to say good-bye to me, I would have come up to say good-bye to you"

"That ok, I just wanted to watch you drive off, I love you."

With that, she said bye, grabbed her suitcase and keys and walked out the door.

Quackers is a junior and plays the Flute. She is hoping to become either a section leader or a drum major.

She opened up the trunk of her car and threw her stuff in. It was about 6 in the morning by then and she stared at the sky and thought"I'm going to see the sun rise every day for a week, but today is the only day I am going to enjoy it."

As she jumped into her car, her cell phone rang. It was RexBob.

"Yo! Quackers! Where are ya? I have been waiting for you for about 2 minutes now"

"Sorry Rex, I didn't know I was running late"

She looked at her watch and it said 6:12. "I'm not late! You're early!"

"Just be here soon" and he hung up.

Quackers put the key in the ignition and turned it; the car didn't start not even the vrrrr-vrrrr! sound.

She stared at the steering wheel in amazement. She tried the key again. It still didn't start. Again Quackers tried the key, this time it started.

That was weird, she thought. It's almost like something does not want me to go to band camp. You're being crazy! She put the car in reverse and headed for RexBob's.


	2. Off to RexBob's house

As she was driving, there was a huge traffic accident down the road about 3 miles. Quackers turned on her radio.  
  
"Good early morning! This is QXYZ 106.9 and we are sorry to report to you early commuters that there is a three-mile long backup on Aberdeen road. A semi truck rolled over while trying to make a left on Teddy Roosevelt road."  
  
Quackers looked at the nearest road sign. 13 mile and Aberdeen, two miles from the wreckage. "Crap," she said aloud. "I might just have to take the back roads."  
  
20 minutes later, she pulls up at RexBob's house. He was sitting outside on his porch looking at his watch irritated but just playing around. He grabbed his bags and shoved them in the trunk. Then he jumped into the passenger side of the car.  
  
RexBob is a sophomore, so he can't drive yet. He plays the Baritone and is only in band because his mom made him.  
  
"Hey! Why you so late? I was waiting outside for you since 6:10 because 'your friend said she would be here at 6! So good-bye!' SLAM!" RexBob said in his funniest woman voice.  
  
"Hey, sorry, but first my car wouldn't start and then there was an accident on the main road and I had to take the back roads for Pete's sake!"  
  
"Oh," he said. He looks at his watch, 6:54 am. "We have 20 minutes to get to the school. Remember, Mr. Tone wants us to be at the school at 7:15 so we can help load the Ryder truck."  
  
"Oh, yeah! That's right! The yellow Ryder truck!" Quackers said and both her and Rex laughed.  
  
10 minutes later, they pulled into the student parking lot of their school. Mr. Tone was already barking orders to the band students already there to help.  
  
Quakers spotted Sammi, Jessie, and Ted their three drum majors. Jessie and Ted are seniors and Sammi is a junior.  
  
Mr. Tone jumped out of the Ryder truck and tripped over a Susa case. He fell to the ground and lay on his back.  
  
RexBob burst out laughing. Quackers gave a look at Mr. Tone and began to laugh too. After about 5 minutes of making fun of him, Quackers and RexBob got out of Quackers' car and got their stuff out of the trunk.  
  
While reaching into the trunk, Quackers heard a voice from behind. "And I heard if you don't march correctly you have to go visit THE THING. THE THING will make you march correctly."  
  
Quackers took her head out of her trunk so fast, that she bumped her head on it.  
  
"Ouch!" she screamed.  
  
"Quackers? Are you ok?" Her best friend asked.  
  
Tuga plays the Clarinet and joined the guard for the season before. She wants to be a drum major as much as Quackers does.  
  
"Ya, I'm ok. Who was talking about THE THING?"  
  
"Oh, I was. My cousin went to band camp two weeks ago. And if they couldn't march correctly by the third day, they had to go see THE THING. One by one the freshmen, new sophomores, new juniors, and new seniors were dropping like flies; they were all going to see THE THING. And none of them were returning. When they asked the teacher where they were, he just told them that they had gotten sick and had to go home. On the third day thirty-four had left to see THE THING. Twenty-eight the day after and by the last day only twenty-two of them were left out of the two hundred and thirty that were there originally. My cousin made it to the last day. Two hours before they performed, they were going over last minute drill. He became out of step while marching ten yards in ten counts backwards. Their band director stopped them and said, 'Shawn! Go see the band moms!' As he had heard him say over one hundred and fifty times before. Shawn stepped out of attention and glanced at the rest of his section. They were all standing perfectly still but till had looks of terror in their faces. My aunt wouldn't tell me what happened after that she just started crying. All I know is that we cannot listen to the radio, music or any thing else that has a rhythm to it because Shawn's eyes get all glazed over and he will start marching perfectly in step around the house. It was kinda funny at first, but now it is just freaky."  
  
"That's weird. Where did you say they had band camp at?" Quackers asked.  
  
"They had it at The Marching Band Academy."  
  
"You're kidding! My cousin was there last week! I wonder if she is the same way as your cousin Shawn is. My aunt gets up at 7 today for work, so I will call her to see if my cousin is acting like a freakazoid."  
  
Quackers pulled out her cell phone and punched in the number to her cousin's.  
  
Ring! Ring! Ring! Come on, somebody pick up, she thought.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey Aunt Suzie! I have a question."  
  
"Yeah, what is it Quackers?"  
  
"When Julie got home from band camp last week, did she start acting crazy around music or anything?"  
  
"Yes, whenever there is music on on the radio or the TV, Julie's eyes get all glazed over and she starts marching perfectly in step around the house. The doctor says she is just going through a phase or something."  
  
"Oh, ok. I just wanted to know because I hadn't talked to her since she got home."  
  
"Ok then, bye bye."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Quackers hung up the phone and turned toward Tuga and said, "She went to The Marching Band Academy too! And my aunt says every time music plays Julie's eyes get all glazed over and she walks around like a maniac."  
  
Tuga looked even more frightened now then she did when she was telling the story.  
  
"Well, we had better go and help load the Ryder truck," Tuga said.  
  
Quackers agreed and she went back to her trunk and pulled out her suitcases and thought aloud to Tuga and RexBob.  
  
"Poor Julie. I remember last summer when I was at her house and we were swimming. Then we got out and danced with the pool skimmer to our favorite dance song, 'Zuit Suit Riot.' Now even if we listen to music, she will go bezerk. Maybe after band camp this year, I can figure out what is going on and stop it. But I can't today. Today we are Mr. Tone's slaves."  
  
"Yeah, so I guess that means we should go inside and check in considering the Ryder truck is now filled up." Tuga said and then the busses that are going to take them to band camp pulled up.  
  
"Good idea," RexBob said. They had forgotten that he was still there. They turned to face him, but he was gone. 


	3. The Marching Band Academy

Quackers frantically turned around and searched for Rex. Tuga spotted him running to the building. "Rex? Where are you going?" Tuga asked him.

"My horn's in the building! I have to go get it!" he yelled back.

"I should go get my Flute, too" Quackers said.

"I already got my flag" Tuga said, pulling out a one-foot flag from behind her back.

"Tuga, that doesn't count" Quackers said.

"I know, I didn't tell you, but I am marching Clarinet this season" Tuga explained.

"Oh, fun" Quackers exclaimed, excitedly. "Let's go get our instruments before Mr. Tone yells at us."

"Good idea."

Quackers slammed the trunk to her car shut and began walking to the school with Tuga.

"I really hope we don't end up gong to The Marching Band Academy" Tuga said.

"Me, too" Quackers said with fear in her voice.

The two of them walked into the doors and ran into Sammi.

"Have you heard where we are going to band camp this year" Tuga asked.

"Yeah, we are going to the Colombier Center, just like the year before. Duh" Sammi said happily and ran outside.

"Shoo, we aren't going to The Marching Band Academy" Quackers said relived.

"Ya, I feel better now" Tuga said grabbing the band door and holding it open.

Surprisingly, no one was getting ready and everyone was sitting in their chairs talking excitedly. On the chalkboard, it was written, 'Please sit down. I have some important news for you-Mr. Tone'.

"News? I wonder what he has to tell us" Tuga said.

"I donno" Quackers said pulling up two chairs for them.

Mr. Tone came out of his office with a brochure. He stood on the podium with his hands crossed, waiting for the band to quiet down.

Mr. Tone's first name is Barry. He wears glasses and is going bald on top. He is 26 and thinks he is the oldest thing on earth, even older than dirt.

Finally, after about three minutes, the band quieted down.

"Good morning! Well, as you know, today is the first day of band camp. The news is, where we are going camp has changed."

Quackers and Tuga looked at each other with growing fear in their eyes.

"We are not going to the Colombier Center for the week, we are going to the Marching Band Academy."


	4. Bus 2

"I heard that this place will be better for the marching individual" Mr. Tone explained while pointing at the pictures in the brochure and eventually passing it to the front row.

Tuga began to hyperventilate and Quackers screamed.

Mr. Tone and everyone looked at them. Sammi jumped up and ran over to them.

"Come with me" she said and took them, by the hand, to the hallway. "Are you OK"

"No! He has no right to take us there" Tuga screamed.

"Did you have your mom sign the slip saying he was aloud to take you to which ever camp he chooses" Sammi asked.

"You mean the permission slip" Quackers asked.

"Yes" Tuga said.

"Then he has all the right in the world. Why don't you want to go there"

"Because my cousin"

"Mine too"

"He marches around the house"

"Mine too"

"Whenever he hears music"

"Mine too"

"Now I am scared"

"Me too"

Sammi couldn't help but laugh. "You're kidding, right"

"You don't believe us, do you" Quackers asked.

"Nope, I don't."

"Well, you just wait until THE THING gets you" Tuga said with a sneer.

"TH...THE TH...THING? What is that" Sammi asked looking a little bit scared now.

"Oh, THE THING will make you march by the third day. You will have to go see it even if you make one mistake. That's what makes you march around the house to music" Quackers said.

Sammi laughed again. "Whatever. Just get back in the band room and stop bringing up all this nonsense." Sammi opened up the door and held it for Quackers and Tuga to walk through.

They took their seats, and RexBob was sitting next to them now. Sammi went over to Jessie and Ted and told them about the school and they began to giggle.

"What's up" RexBob asked them.

"Nothing much, only Sammi doesn't believe us and she told the other drum majors and now they're all laughing" Tuga said.

"Oh, well. I believe you" RexBob said to Tuga.

"That's good, at least someone does" Tuga said.

"While you were out, Mr. Tone explained to us why we ended up going to the Marching Band Academy. He said it was because there are some people who work there to help teach you to march. On the third day of your stay there, they come in and teach you to march if you make any mistakes" RexBob explained.

"Really, and how do they teach us to march" Tuga asked beginning to get scared again.

"He says they use some special machine" RexBob said.

"Wonder what the machine looks like" Quackers said.

"I don't know but my guess is he is hiding the THE THING and is covering it up with the machine thing," RexBob said

Just then they were told to board the busses. Quackers, Tuga, and Rex all got up and walked over to the white dry-erase board to see which busses they were assigned to. Quackers and Tuga were assigned to bus 2 and RexBob to bus 3.

"Well, I guess we will see you there then Rex" Quackers said.

RexBob pulled out his cell phone. "How 'bout I just call you if anything comes up"

"That sounds good" Quackers said and they turned around and grabbed their suitcases and instruments and walked to the busses. The bus driver opened up the door and Quackers saw a surprise in the driver's seat.


	5. Ned the Bus Driver

Quackers' neighbor, Ned, was sitting in the driver's seat.

"Ned? I didn't know you were a bus driver! I thought you said you were a paperman" Quackers exclaimed.

"A bus driver in the early morning, a paper man in the morning! So, you riding my bus" he asked.

"Only if this is bus two" Tuga said

"Yup. This is two, climb aboard."

Quackers and Tuga climbed onto the bus and sat in the first two seats on the bus.

"So, off to band camp, eh" Ned asked.

"Yup, and we heard that we are going to a place that is evil, evil as in really really evil" Quackers said with a little fear in her eyes.

"Really? You don't say" he said turning towards the steering wheel, kind of getting nervous.

"You don't happen to know anything about it" Quackers asked him.

"Uhh. no" he said then said something under his breath"So, a week away from home? Guess that means that you won't be coming over to my house to steal candy anymore." Then he strummed his fingers on the steering wheel and bumped the horn. "Oops" he said.

Tuga leaned over to Quackers and whispered"I think he knows something. Maybe we should try to get it out of him."

"Ya, good idea" then she turned to Ned"How long are we on this bus for, before we get to the band camp"

"'Bout an hour."

"Oh, ok." She turned back to Tuga"Before we get to the Marching Band Academy, I will get any info he know out of him."

The other band members began to board the bus, filling in from the back. Everyone would rather sit in the back than the front. Ned started the bus and they began to move.

"So, have you ever been to the Marching Band Academy" Quackers asked Ned.

"I have never been inside, but I have driven another band there before."

"Did you see anything when you got there"

"I know what you are doing, Quackers. You are trying to get information out of me and it is working. Anyway, what I saw was a building out in the back of the main building and there were hypnotized people coming out of the building. All of them were walking in step with each other, it was really weird. But I shouldn't have told you that."

Tuga looked at Quackers.

Just then they took a sharp left turn and Quackers fell out of her seat into the aisle way.

"Sorry" Ned said"a squirrel."

Quackers got up and got back into her seat. She looked at Tuga, who was trying so hard not to laugh.

"You ok" she said giggling.

"Ya" she looked at Ned"warn me next time you're going to make a sharp left turn like that."

"Ok."

Then the bus stopped abruptly. "Ned! I said warn me next time you are about to do that!" when he didn't answer right away she looked out the window and Quackers saw it was cracked. Ned had run into the back of a stopped car at a red light.

Everyone began cheering.

Ned slammed his head down on the steering wheel, causing the horn to go off.

Quakers jumped up from her seat and looked down at Ned. He wasn't breathing. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number to the police.

"911, how can I help you" the operator asked.

"My bus driver just ran into the back of a stopped car and now he is not breathing" Quackers said.

"Ok, where are you"

"I have no idea." Just then Mr. Tone got on the bus.

"Holy Hannah!" Mr. Tone said seeing the crack in the window of the bus. "What just happened?"

"The bus driver almost ran a red light and crashed into a car! Therefore, now we have a cracked window," said Norman, a Trombone player.

"Yeah, and now the bus driver is not breathing!" Tuga screamed causing others to scream.

"Calm down!" yelled Mr. Tone.

"Hello? Are you still there?" asked the operator on Quacker's phone.

"Yeah, my teacher just got on the bus, do you want to talk to him"

"Sure."

"Here Mr. Tone, the phone is for you." Quackers handed him the phone and he started talking to the operator.

Quackers turned to Tuga. "I think that this is another sign that we shouldn't go to band camp this year."

Top of Form

Bottom of Form


	6. We're all Gonna die!

A few minutes later, an ambulance came to the scene of the accident.

They rushed out of the ambulance and jumped onto the bus.

Mr. Tone was frantically throwing his arms around to the ambulance men to take Ned. Mr. Tone always tries to lead people.

People in the back of the bus were talking excitedly, some of the guys were cheering, and Quackers was in the front seat running a replay of what just happened.

"I sure hope he is ok, Tuga" she said, but she already knew the truth.

After a few minutes, the ambulance pulled away, with Ned inside and the sirens blaring.

"Well, now who's going to drive the bus" Mr. Tone asked and gave a little heh-heh- kind of laugh and bounced back off the bus.

"I don't wanna go to band camp now" Quackers said. She crossed her arms and banged her head on the window.

Tuga started to laugh.

"Watcha laughing for"

"I donno."

Then Mr. Tone got back on the bus and said"The bus garage just radioed in and said I could drive the bus to band camp."

Everyone began to applaud again and scream things like"Yeah! Go Tone" and "We're all gonna die!" follows by laughs.

Tuga and Quackers looked at each other with nervous eyes"Uh, oh."

"Uh, can we get off this bus and ride another" Tuga asked.

Quackers laughed at her.

Mr. Tone sat down and started the engine; the window was only cracked on the passenger's side, so they could still see out of it fine.

He began to move the bus foreword. "Wow, this is fun" he exclaimed.

Then the bus ran over a curb. "Oops. wow I can't believe I have never driven a bus before. oops red light" and then he slammed on the brakes but couldn't stop fast enough before the line and ended up in the middle of the intersection. Cars were honk-honking at the bus as it ran the red light.

"Mr. Tone! You mean you have never driven a bus before" asked Quackers.

"Nope, I have wanted to, but never got a chance but now I am……oh, a car backing out" The bus screeched as Mr. Tone stopped it.

Quackers looked at Tuga and Tuga looked back at Quackers, they both had the same thought. They were going to get killed one way or another by Mr. Tone's dangerous bus driving.

Then suddenly her cell phone rang. It was RexBob. "Yo! What's going on Quackers? Your bus keeps runnin' red lights and almost crashing into backing out cars."

"Yeah, I know. Mr. Tone is driving the bus. And he has never driven a bus before."

"Really"

"Would I lie to you"

"No, hang on a sec.Hey guys" he shouts to the back of the bus"Guess who is driving bus two? Pete, you won the bet, Mr. Tone is driving it.Ok, I'm back."

"You were having a bet on who was driving the bus"

"Yup, Pete won."

"So I hear."

"Anyway, what I was calling you about is that I'd heard some information on band camp this year."

"Really"

"Yup, I heard that there is a building out back behind the main building and zombie looking people come out of it. And they marching in step with each other."

"We heard that, too."

"Really"

"Ya" Quackers said as she almost fell out of the seat again.

"Oops, curve in the road."

"Hear anything else" Quackers asked RexBob.

"Ya, as a matter of fact I heard that the last band that went to band camp there all now love band. Band is now their life and they made so many after and during school bands that they never go home. Weird, huh"

"Geeze, I'm glad I'm not them. You can have too much band."

"Too much band? What do ya mean too much band" Mr. Tone asked as he was listening to Quackers and RexBob's conversation. He turned to look at Quackers and ended up going on the sidewalk and almost hitting a nine-year old on a bike. "Oops, kid on a bike" The kid screamed and ran into his yard.

"Woah! That kid almost got ran over by Mr. Tone's driving"

"Yeah, I feel I am going to get killed in this bus as long as Mr. Tone is driving" Quackers said and Tuga began to laugh.

"Boy, that's the truth" Tuga said.

"Well, I don't want to ring up my phone bill, so I'll call you if I hear anything else. We should be getting to camp soon." RexBob said.

"Ok, bye" Quackers hung up and turned to Mr. Tone, who had a big smile on his face and mouthing the words 'this is so much fun!' "Mr. Tone"

"Yes"

"How long is it until we get to band camp"

"Oh.I'd say about two or three minutes depending on traffic, stoplights, and me driving this bus, and.Oh! Wait! There it is"

Quackers turned her head, looked out the window, and gasped.


	7. THE Building

When she looked out the window she noticed that they were not the only band that was going to be there for the week. She could hear off in the distance the banging of the Drumline, the high-pitched squeals of the Flutes, and the loud upper brass instruments, like the Trumpets. She could see the band on a practice field about a half of a mile away. From what she could see, they were practicing basic block and scales.

"Tuga! Look! The building"

Behind the main building was an ominous looking three-story, blacked-bricked building.

"I think that may be the building where THE THING is" Quackers said.

"I think you might be right" Tuga said

Mr. Tone stopped the bus without making everyone hit the seat in front of them, right outside the front door. He had finally gotten a hag of the breaks. He got up and said to Quackers"See, I got you here without killing you" and to the rest of the bus"wait right here while I go inside and check in." He jumped off the bus and went inside the main building.

"This place has a freaky feeling to it" Tuga said.

"You're telling me." Mr. Tone came back with a crate filled with large envelopes, big enough to put a full-sized sheet of paper into. Then he jumped back onto the bus.

"Hey, Tone! What's inside the crate" asked Tommy, a Clarinet player.

"These are maps, rules, history, and room keys for you and your partners." Mr. Tone said as he pulled out one envelope and looked at the contents of it. As Mr. Tone was passing out the envelopes, Quackers couldn't help but wonder what the map said about the weird three-story tall building or what the history of the place was like.

"Quackers and Nicky" Mr. Tone said as he passed the envelope that said 'Quackers-Flute and Nicky-Guard.'

"Tuga and Shay-Shay" Mr. Tone said as he passed the envelope to Tuga that said 'Tuga-Clarinet and Shay-Shay-Clarinet.'

Quackers eagerly opened up her envelope as Mr. Tone got off the bus to visit buses one and three. Inside was a map that looked really ancient, Quackers thought that if she were to fold it in any way, it would brake. She quickly found the main building on the map and underneath it, it said 'Offices and Lost and Found' and behind the main building was a building that underneath said 'No Students Aloud Unless Permitted by Staff.'

"Hey Tuga! Get a load of this" Quackers said anxiously showing her the map.

"Yeah, I know. According to the key we have to walk two miles to and from the practice field everyday! And that doesn't even count the endless hours of continuous marching we will be doing"

"No, this" She pointed to the caption under the ominous building.

"Oh. I still think that two miles is an awful lot."

"Whatever" Quackers said as she laughed at Tuga

Mr. Tone got back on the bus and shooed everyone off to go get their suitcases from under the bus and instruments from the Ryder truck and head on into the building to check in and get with their roommates. Bus three was already inside the 'Offices and Lost and Found' building. Quackers followed Tuga off the bus and into the building. They didn't have to go to the Ryder truck because they had small instruments and could carry them onto the bus with no hastle.

RexBob and his roommate, Jack, were already inside the office building, opening up their envelopes.

"Hey Rex! Have you seen Nicky"

"Yeah, she's over there."

"Thank you" Quackers said and turned to walk over to her. "Hey, Nicky"

"Oh, hi Quackers, I was just looking for you. Mr. Tone said that if we didn't get our envelope then our roommates would have gotten them."

"Yup, here's ours" Quackers said as she lifted it up for Nicky to see. "Oh, and look at this." Quackers pulled out the map to show Nicky the building and the caption under it.

"Yeah, I heard RexBob babbling on and on about some THING that makes you march. I was thinking 'ya, sure, whatever.'"

"You mean, THE THING?" Quackers asked.

"Ya, something like that. I don't believe anyway."

"But it's true."

"Whatever."

Just then they heard"Well, my cousin came here and went to band camp about a year ago."

Quackers looked up to see Connie, a junior Pit player, on the bench next to Nicky, talking to a few other girls.

"Yeah, she came here and hasn't been the same since."

"What's the matter with her, Connie" Quackers asked her"Does she march around the house non-stop to anything that has a beat; her eyes get all glazed over to music; she become a band freak"

"Yeah, she did! How did you know"

"My cousin and Tuga's cousin both came here, mine last week and hers two weeks ago, and they are the same way as your cousin. Marches all the time, being band freaks. It has something to do with THE THING." As Quackers told Connie, Connie just sat back and stared with horror in her eyes.

Nicky threw up her arms in the air. "Ok, I get it. This is all a play, a trick to get me to be scared" she said as she pointed at Quackers and Connie. "Well, I ain't falling for it."

Tuga, RexBob, and Jack came to the bench.

"Have you heard more about THE THING" Quackers asked RexBob.

"No, have you"

"No, but when I find out more I will let you know."

"NEXT" The lady at the counter said.

Quackers and Nicky walked up to the counter.

"Names."

"Quackers" Quackers said"and Nicky" she said pointing to Nicky.

"Whatever, here" the lady said rolling her eyes at them. "These are your room keys for the room you are in. You are in room 669 on the sixth floor. The cafeteria is on the fourth floor. The guys' rooms are on the third floor, you may not go there and you also may not go on the seventh floor. That is off-limits to everyone except people who work here. So, don't even try to go up there. If we see that you are a student, or even a band director, trying to go up there, and not having permission, they will be sent home at once."

Quackers looked at the elevator and back at the lady.

"I see you are looking at the elevator. You may use it, but we would appreciate it if you used the stairs. There is no useable number seven button so you can't get up there by that and the staircase stops at the sixth floor. So you can't get up that way either. Now shoo, I have other people to check in."

Nicky and Quackers walked up to the elevator and pressed the up button. The door opened and they got inside.

Quackers pressed the six button to go up to the sixth floor. The doors closed and they began to rise up.

Quackers looked at the buttons. They went all the way up to the seven, but next to the seven button was a keyhole for a very small key.

"Hey Nicky, look. You need a key to get up to the seventh floor! I wonder who has the key, and what's up there."

"Ok, no. The lady said that if you were caught trying to go up there, you would be thrown out of here, plus she said only people who work here could get up there, so, I'm assuming that they would have keys."

"Oh, yeah. That makes sense."

The elevator door opened at the fifth floor and a mother chaperone got on. She was obviously from the other school, because Quackers didn't recognize her.

"Oh, dear, I'm going to be late. Mr. Rabbott is going to yell at me. Oh, gotta hurry" she said looking at her watch.

"Excuse me, but are you in trouble or something" Quackers asked the chaperone.

"Yes, I took a nap and ended up oversleeping, and the chaperones are supposed to be out there in..." she looked at her watch"in two minutes. Crap, he's going to kill me."

"Why do you have to out there in two minutes" Nicky asked.

"Water break. And the chaperones have to take the students who were bad to the manager who then takes them up to the seventh floor."

"What's up there"

"Detention facility. But you didn't hear that from me, students are not aloud to know that."

"Ok" Quackers said as the door opened to the sixth floor. Quackers and Nicky got off and walked down the hallway to their room, 669. They opened up the door with the key and the room was unbelievably small.

On the left wall was a cot, behind that an air conditioner. On the right wall was the bed, which happened to be lumpy, and the only light in the room.

If you sat on the beds and looked at the door, you could see the closet with some drawers inside, there was also a sink was by the door.

It was only eight feet from one wall to the other and ten foot from the door to the air conditioning, so it was very cramped. The windows and the open door were then only things that made the room look bigger.

"Geeze, this room is so small that we'll get to know each other real well, real fast" Nicky said jumping on the bed with the light.

Quackers put her suitcase inside the closet and her Flute case inside one of the drawers in the closet, which she had to yank open because it was stuck shut.

"Well, this room is kind of cozy" Quackers said sitting on the cot which sank under her weight.

Quackers opened up her envelope and pulled out the itinerary. It said they had to be outside at the practice field at 4:00 p.m. She looked at her digital clock on the floor, which said 2:30 p.m.

"We have an hour and a half to get to the practice field" Quackers said to Nicky who was sitting on the bed reading the papers out of the envelope.

"Well, you want to decorate this place while we are just sitting here" Quackers asked her.

"Sure! That sounds like a good way to pass the time" she said as she got up off her bed.

Quackers went over to her suitcase and pulled out five rolls of streamers: blue, yellow, red, green, and black. Nicky had a stack of different colored construction paper, markers, scissors, glue, tape, and most importantly, duct tape of all different colors: yellow, black, purple, some other colors and traditional gray.

They cut, pasted, talked, hung, and crafted for about an hour before they realized that all the noise from the other rooms were silent.

"Do you hear that" Quackers asked putting the sign down she was making.

"Hear what? I hear nothing" Nicky said putting down her scissors.

"Exactly" she said.

Quackers got up and went to the door and stuck her head out the door. She looked down the hallway and saw nothing but closed doors.

"Where is everyone" Nicky asked making Quackers jump a mile.

"I have no idea."

Nicky stepped out of the room and walked passed the closed doors and they discovered the last door on the left was open.

Quackers walked quietly to the door and peered inside. It was the chaperones' room and Sara, a Mello player's mom, Mrs. Andrews, was laying on her bed taking a nap. She was slightly snoring.

She had a clock on the floor next to the bed and Nicky bent over carefully to look at the time while not waking her.

When she looked at the time it said 4:30.

They were late by a whole half-hour.

"That explains why we didn't hear anyone" Quackers said as they ran back to the room.

She bent down and picked up her alarm clock. The time had stopped on 3:30 and 29 seconds.

"Look at this, Nicky" Quackers said holding out the clock for her to see.

"That makes no sense. First of all it's a digital clock and second it's plugged into the wall so that means that there is still power running through it" Nicky said

"It's like someone is trying to get us in trouble" Quackers said and as she said it, the clock started running at the right time.


	8. Mmmm, Tastes Like Spice

As Quackers and Nicky were running out to the practice field, Mr. Tone was running basic block and they were doing 8's-and-4's.

"Mark Time Mark" Sammie yelled clapping her hands and Jessie took over with the gock block.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8" the band yelled as they moved forward on the field. Quackers and Nicky got to the field as Mr. Tone was yelling "Band Ready Halt" the command to stop and the band saying"1, 2."

Mr. Tone looked at them and then at his watch and back at them. "A little late are we" he asked.

"Yes, Mr. Tone. We're sorry, Mr. Tone, but our clock stopped running, Mr. Tone, and we lost track of time, Mr. Tone" Quackers said.

"You can stop saying my name!"

"Oh, sorry."

"That's ok. You being late doesn't hurt me. When you are late three times, that's when you get in trouble. This is one for the both of you. Now go get into the block" he said pointing to the band.

Quackers joined the Flutes and Nicky joined the Guard.

"Band, Atten Hut" Mr. Tone yelled.

"One" the band yelled after the snare Drums played 'dum dum da dum'

"One step marching backwards. Mark Time Mark"

The band stepped back and held it there while the director and drum majors walked around fixing people. Quackers almost fell down while doing 8's-and- 4's backwards because she had other things on her mind. Finally, after another hour of marching, they were dismissed to go to dinner.

As they were walking to dinner, Tuga caught up to Quackers. "Hey Quackers! I missed why you were late to practice" she said.

"Oh" Quackers said"Because my alarm clock stopped working. It just stayed on the same time, 3:30 and 29 seconds. We found out the real time by going into the chaperones' room and looking at her clock while Mrs. Andrews was sleeping."

"I thought your clock was digital"

"It is. That's the strange thing. Plus after we found out the right time the clock started going at the right time."

"That's weird."

"Yeah, I know. It was."

Quackers walked into the cafeteria and stood in line for the food counter behind RexBob.

"Hey Rex."

"Yo, Quackers."

"What do we have for dinner tonight"

"Spaghetti or pizza."

"That sounds good, I can always go for Italian."

"Yeah, we were told that the food here is all made from scratch, if it can be, and that everything is made with a secret ingredient."

"A secret ingredient? I wonder what it is."

Jack, who was standing next to RexBob, turned around and said"According to that sign over there, it says that the ingredient is good for our health while at band camp and that it would help with our marching career."

"Marching career" RexBob asked.

"Yup" Jack said.

Quackers looked at the sign and read aloud"Welcome to the Marching Band Academy's cafeteria. Here our cooks only use the finest ingredients and make everything from scratch. Also, we use a secret ingredient that gives the students proper nutrition during their stay here at the MBA and that prolonged exposure to this ingredient will help the marching career of the individual."

"I wonder how healthy that stuff really is," Quackers said. "It can't be very healthy. Oh, how I wish I would have brought my own food."

"Marching career? Whoa, weird. This place really gives me the creeps" Tuga said coming out of nowhere, cutting in front of RexBob, then Jack cut in front of Rex, behind Tuga.

"Hey Tuga" Jack said smiling at her.

"Hi, Jack" Tuga said back.

They finally got up to the counter to get their trays and silverware. Tuga was first in line then Jack, RexBob, and Quackers.

They got their food, desserts, drinks, and went over to a table by a window next to Nicky and Manda.

Nicky got up and pushed the two tables together. Manda was almost done eating and was eating her apple. Nicky was finishing her pizza.

Quackers picked up her fork and poked it into her spaghetti and put a fork full into her mouth. "Wow! This is surprisingly good" she said.

RexBob took a bite of his food"Yeah! This is good"

Jack took a bite of his food"Mmmmm, delicious, it has a slight spice taste to it."

"So does mine" Tuga said.

"Do you like it, Tuga" Jack asked her.

"Yes, Jack I do. Thank you for asking" Tuga said rolling her eyes.

"You're welcome" he said smiling taking another bite of his dinner.

"So, what time do we have to be outside" RexBob asked.

Manda looked up from her food and said"7 p.m."

"Oh, ok, so we have" RexBob looked at his watch"a half hour. Just enough time to eat and run to the practice field, if we are fast enough. Oh fun, goody goody."

Quackers looked at him and laughed.

"Hey Tuga, do you want another dessert? I can go get you another one" Jack said watching Tuga finishing her dessert, she always eats her desserts before her dinner.

"Umm, sure, whatever, go ahead and go get me another dessert to eat" Tuga said carefully putting her hands down on the table and looking at Quackers.

"Ok" Jack said bouncing off towards the dessert counter.

"He is so annoying" Tuga said out loud after Jack had gone away.

"Well, I think he likes you" RexBob said.

"So I can tell" she said picking up her fork to eat another bite of her food.

"Here ya go, Tuga, a nice warm brownie" Jack said handing her a plate with a brownie on it.

"Thank you, Jack" Tuga said smiling politely, taking the brownie and setting it down next to her plate.

Nicky got up and gathered her plates and took them over to the tray rack then she came back to the table and sat next to Quackers.

"So you wanna finish that sign now or before we go to bed"

"Well, I guess we could finish it now. Just let me finish eating."

"Ok, I'll go unlock the door and go start on finishing the sign" Nicky said as she started walking toward the cafeteria door.

"Start on finishing the sign? What kind of English is that?" Quackers asked laughing.

"Bad English!" she said walking out of the cafeteria.

"Ok, I'll be up soon" Quackers called after her.

Tuga finished her dinner and started on her brownie.

"Your brownie good, Tuga" Jack asked her.

"Yes Jack, it is" she said getting a little irritated.

Quackers quietly laughed at them. "So, Manda" she said looking at Manda"have you heard any news about THE THING? Do you even know what THE THING is"

"Yeah, I overheard Connie talking about it earlier and the only thing I heard was that you get hypnotized when you go see THE THING and the only way to get un-hypnotized is……"

Just then, the fire alarm went off and Manda didn't get to finish her sentence.

Quackers jumped out of her chair, Tuga fell on the floor, and Jack jumped after her. Manda stood up and RexBob jumped under the table. Tuga laughed at him.

Mr. Tone was in line to get his dinner, but he jumped out of line and ran to the front door, waving his hands in the air.

"Students! Students" he yelled"Carefully walk to the door, and use the stairs, and head outside to the practice field" he said and ran out the door.

Quackers, Tuga, RexBob, Manda, and Jack followed everyone out of the cafeteria to the stairs.

Ted was holding the door open for the people to go through to get down the stairs, and Chris, the Mello player, was holding the door open for the people at the bottom of the stairs.

"Thank you, Chris" Tuga said.

Chris nodded.

They walked outside and RexBob looked around"Which way is it to the practice field" he asked.

"Why don't you just follow everyone else, Rex" Manda said.

"Oh, yeah, that's a good idea" he said slapping his forehead.

They walked towards the practice field like Mr. Tone said to, and many people were already there.

Quackers found Nicky and walked over to her. "Hey, Nicky, how far did you get on starting on finishing the sign" she asked her.

Tuga came up and slapped Quackers on the back"Ha, ha. I like that, 'starting on finishing the sign!' What a riot" she said laughing.

Jack came up from behind Tuga and put his hand on her shoulder"Yeah, funny" he said.

Tuga rolled her eyes and turned around and walked away and Jack ran after her.

Quackers chuckled and Nicky laughed.

Nicky lowered her voice and said"Well, I had just gotten up to the room, unlocked the door, and gotten inside the room when I saw someone run down the hallway. I walked over to the door and peered into the hallway. The person was dressed in all black; a black Derby hat, black overcoat, black pants, black shoes, black everything! Well, they ran down to the end of the hallway, to the exit door, and pulled the fire alarm."

"So, you saw the person who pulled the alarm" Quackers asked her.

"Yup, I didn't see their face but I did see what they were wearing" Nicky said.

Mr. Tone climbed up the scaffolding set up by the 50-yard line and put on his microphone. "Ch……ch……" he said checking to make sure it was on. "Band" he yelled getting everyone's attention. "Does anyone know who pulled or why the fire alarm was pulled"

No one answered his question

"Drum majors! Come here" he said getting a little upset.

Jessie, Sammi, and Ted walked up to him. He began to whisper to them, but his microphone was on so everybody heard. "I need you to..." he realized everyone could hear him and turned the microphone off.

Nicky looked at Tuga who looked back at her.

"Wonder what he's saying" Nicky said.

"Not sure. He wants them to do something for him though" Quackers answered.

Tuga came back over. She sighed and said, "Geeze, for all her knows, a faculty member or or a member of the other band did it, or it could have been pulled because there was a real fire!"

Nicky said, "Umm."

"What I mean is how does he know if any of us did it or not."

Just then the whole band stopped to watch a person running down the hill towards the practice field waving their hands wildly in the air.

Sammi pointed toward them and said"Mr. Tone! Look"

He stood up and grabbed onto the scaffolding railing. "Holy Hannah" he cried as the person, who was all dressed in black, plowed through the band, knocking over Connie.

"Watch it" Connie yelled.

The person ran to the back of the field and into the trees, and disappeared.

"What the……" Quackers said.

"Who was that" Mr. Tone yelled.

Nicky turned to Quackers and whispered"That was the person I saw pull the fire alarm"

Tuga looked confusedly at Nicky. "You know who pulled the fire alarm?" she screamed.

Ted put his hand on Nicky's shoulder and pointed to her with the other. "Mr. Tone, I believe she knows who that was"


	9. Drastic Measures

A FEW HOURS LATER

Quackers was lying on her bed when someone knocked on the door.

She got up and opened it. Tuga was standing there and she was out of breath.

"Hey, Tuga, whatcha want" Quackers asked.

"Please hide me" she pleaded running into the room and jumping under Nicky's bed.

Quackers shrugged her shoulders, closed the door, and lay back on her bed.

Tuga stuck her head out from under the bed. "Are they gone" she asked.

"Are who gone" Quackers asked, puzzled.

"Jack and RexBob."

"Jack and RexBob? What happened"

"They were chasing me. RexBob dared Jack to put his hands on me and French me! Yeah, like I want him to do that!" she said sarcastically. "We were sitting on the couch talking and playing card games. Jack was getting so annoying and when Jack accepted and scooted closer to me, I got up and ran. RexBob blocked the stairs so I couldn't get up them. I turned around and Jack was behind me. Finally, me being short finally came in handy. I ran full speed toward Rex and when he went to grab me I dove to the floor, through his legs, got back up and ran full speed toward the stairs and up here. I don't know if they were following me so, I hid under the bed" Tuga explained, breathlessly.

"Oh, that dumb Jack. Rex isn't any better. I can't believe I dated him last year, but we are not going through that story again" Quackers said.

"So, is Nicky still with Mr. Tone" Tuga asked, emerging from under the bed, sitting on it.

"Yeah, and she has been there for a while now."

"I wonder what he had to say to her."

Just then, a key went into the door and it opened. Nicky walked into the room and looked at Tuga"Hi" she said not happily. Tuga got off her bed and Nicky said"Thanks" and she jumped on her bed and lay on her stomach with her head in her pillow.

"Hey Nicky. What's up" Quackers asked.

Nicky took her head off her pillow and said"Mr. Tone gave me another warning." Then she slammed her head back on her pillow then picked it up again. "That's two now." She put her head back on her pillow. Then she brought it back up again"Anymore warnings and I have go see THE THING. Why? Because it would teach me to be on time and behave better." Then she put her head back on her pillow.

"Did he actually call it, THE THING?" Tuga asked.

"Ya, now we know it is really here," Nicky said.

"That sucks" Quackers said.

She picked her head back up"Yup, can't be late to another practice for the rest of band camp or I won't get to see the rest of band camp! I don't wanna see THE THING" Nicky yelled. "And with that stupid clock of yours, I'm really going to get in trouble! If that thing over there keeps displaying the wrong time, we are going to be late all the time" she yelled and let out an "Arrrg" and slammed her head back into her pillow.

"Well, you want another clock because I've got an extra alarm clock in my room. Both me and Shay-Shay brought one" Tuga offered to Nicky. "Oh and I'm sorry for being so loud earlier."

"It's ok, you're forgiven and sure, two clocks would be better than one" Nicky said as Tuga walked out the door into the hallway, scanning both sides for Jack and RexBob and running to her room.

"Well, I'll make sure we are both out at the right time for the meeting tonight" Quackers said.

They would have been out for after-dinner practice then but Mr. Tone cancelled it. He had the police called to search the areas of the practice field and the woods for the person all dressed in black.

Tuga came back into the room and handed Nicky an old-fashioned clock with Roman numerals for the numbers.

"Wow, this looks old" Nicky commented.

"Nah, my mom got if from K-mart a few days ago, just so I could bring it to band camp."

"Ah, Ok. Thanks." Nicky turned it over and noticed it ran on batteries. "Good" so said"Now it won't do what your digital clock did" she said looking at Quackers.

"Well, I might as well try to get back to my room now, if Jack and RexBob aren't out there."

"What" Nicky asked puzzled.

"Oh, never mind, long story" Tuga said opening up the door and looking both ways down the hallway for RexBob and Jack. "The guys aren't aloud on the girls' floor but I know that that won't stop them" she said and ran down the hallway.

"Hey, Tuga" Quackers heard.

"It's RexBob" Nicky said.

"Yup, guess so" Quackers said.

They heard a door slam, which was Tuga getting into her room.

Then the door to Quackers and Nicky's room opened up. RexBob appeared into the doorway.

"Hey Nicky" he said waving to her.

"Hi, RexBob" she said waving back.

"What are you doing here on the girls' floor and where is Jack" Quackers asked.

"Oh, Jack was too chicken to come down this far, so I did, and I was looking for Tuga, who I think just went into her room."

"Ya. She saw you and she apparently thought you and Jack were still after her" Quackers explained.

"No, I wanted to apologize. I didn't know that she would run like that."

Then there was a knock at the door. RexBob went pale, well, as pale as a dirty brown kid can get. (Disclaimer: the real 'dirty brown kid' came up with his nickname himself, I am not being racist…it's just Rex's personality to call himself the 'dirty brown kid')

"Uh, now what? If I'm caught in here, I can get in major trouble" he whispered loudly.

Quackers shrugged her shoulders. "Shoulda thought of that before you came in here"

She got off her bed and walked to the door. The person knocked again. RexBob jumped to the floor and looked under Nicky's bed. He moved her suitcase and slid himself under and put the suitcase back.

Quackers opened the door partway and saw Mr. Tone standing there. "Hi, Mr. Tone" Quackers said.

"Practice is still on after the meeting. You are to come pick up your drill for the first song in the Xaiver room, by the gym, before 9 o'clock, when the meeting starts. In an hour from now." Mr. Tone put his hand on the door and opened it all the way. "Nicky, you got that" he asked her.

"Yup, I do" she said back.

"Who else you got in here" Mr. Tone asked looking back at Quackers.

"Uh.no one else. There is no where to hide anyone in here, except maybe the closet. But the closet is so small, only Tuga could fit, and also we could have her in here, so why would we hide her"

He pushed Quackers out of the way and checked the closet. "Ok, you're clear" he said and left the room.

"Rex, get out from under there, he's gone" Quackers said.

Rex came out from under the bed. "Thanks."

There was another knock at the door. RexBob jumped back under. Quackers opened it up. Mr. Tone was there again.

"'Cause you know" he said"if you have a guy hiding in your room, you both would get another warning and you, Nicky, can't afford another one" he said and walked away. Quackers shut the door behind him.

"Ok, get out from under of my bed and leave" Nicky whispered loudly to Rex.

"Alright, alright" he said coming out and pretending to dust off his clothes and straighten them. "So, how am I going to get out of here, you know, with Mr. Tone being down here and all"

Nicky began to smile from ear to ear.

"What" RexBob asked her.

"I know how, but it would call for drastic measures."


	10. Rex's Mean Cousins

"Awww, come on Rex, put it on. It's your color" Nicky said, handing him a red tank top.

"Oh, I can't believe I let you talk me into this" he said pulling the shirt over his head.

"Here, put this on, too" Quackers said handing him a red bandana.

"Thanks" he said sarcastically. He put it on and walked over to the mirror on the back of the door. "Oh, I look so pretty today! I wonder if Ted would notice me? I love him so much" Rex said doing his girly voice and acting like a girl.

Quackers put her hand on his shoulder and said"You have had way too much practice talking like that"

"Hey, every guy's gotta have a hobby" he said fixing the bandana.

Rex was wearing Nicky's shirt, a few of her bracelets and Quackers' bandana and jean skirt she brought for the dance on the last night of camp. He almost looked like a girl except for one thing.

"Here, put this on" Nicky said handing him a compact with eye shadow inside and a tube of red lipstick.

"Oh, no you don't! Wearing the skirt and heels were one thing, but the make-up. No way" he protested.

"Ok, just a sec" Quackers said leaving to the hallway.

When she came back, Tuga was with her.

"What's he need" Quackers asked her.

"Well, lets see" she said crossing her arms. "I do believe he needs a little make-up. Tone would never believe him to be a girl, that is, without a little make-up" she said.

"See, Rex? I told you."

"Ya, ya, sure, sure, hand it over" he said out stretching his hand. "Now, I do this" he asked taking the eye shadow brush and sticking it into the powder then putting it on his on his eyelid. Surprisingly, he put it on right and it looked good.

"Rex? How did you know how to do that? It took me a long time before I could get it right" Nicky asked.

"I said a guy's gotta have a hobby, didn't I" Rex said opening up the lipstick container and applying it perfectly.

"Don't tell that to too many people. Even I wish you wouldn't have told me that" Quackers said.

"Oh, well. I'm Indian so I have lots of cousin, ok? And all of them are girls, except for my cousin Alexander who is a lot older than me and wont even say hi to me at the family reunions. He ignores me like I'm not even there! So, I am forced to hang with the girls. They play dress-up and tea party and even house. I don't really want to play, but I have no other choice. They force me to because they all love me so much. One time they even played make over and I was the barber. Ya, I know, barber. I give them slack because they are only six through twelve years old, so I said that I would be their barber. But what they meant by barber was I had to give them the makeovers! And on top of it I had to make them look good otherwise my aunts would kill me. So, I had to get good fast. Plus I couldn't leave because they threatened their nails at me. Now I know I'm no genius but I do know that nails hurt like hell! So I gave makeovers to my 15 cousins; they said I was a natural" Rex said.

"Wow, that explains it" Tuga said. "But I still wish I didn't know that your hobby was cross dressing!"

"Like I said, don't tell that to too many people" Quackers said.

"Ya, but now I just want to get out of here and get back to my room. I hope Jack's not up there or I'll never hear the end of it! And I'm not a crossdresser!"

The three, um four, girls walked down the hallway toward the elevators, when they heard Mr. Tone.

He was over in Ash's room. He was explaining to her about where to get the drill for later.

"Hurry, Rex! There's Mr. Tone" Tuga said and Tone came out of the room and met eyes with Rex.


	11. Mr Tone has Remorse

"Hello, Quackers, Tuga, Nicky, Shawna" Mr. Tone said turning and knocking on the next door, Tuga and Shay-Shay's room.

Quackers couldn't believe it. Mr. Tone actually thought RexBob was Shawna the Tuba player.

Rex waved and the four of them turned around and walked to the elevator.

RexBob, er, Shawna pushed the down button for the third floor. They all got inside and when the doors closed they began to laugh uncontrollable.

"So, Shawna, still hope Ted notices you" Quackers asked laughing harder than ever.

"Aw, shut up" Rex said between laughs.

They laughed all he way down the three floors.

When the doors opened to the third floor, RexBob ran off to his room. Quackers peeked her head out of the door and shouted to him.

"Hey! Make sure you give me back those clothes! You can't keep them" she said laughing.

"Shut up!' he shouted back, rolling his eyes, and disappearing into his room.

Quackers could hear Jack start laughing really hard.

The doors to the elevator closed and Quackers pressed the 2 button for the second floor. The elevator went down one floor and the doors opened and they climbed out, laughing, but not as hard.

"Which way is it toward the gym" Quackers asked.

"Why are we going there" Tuga asked confused.

"Mr. Tone told us to come down and get our drill before the meeting tonight" Nicky explained.

"Oh, that's why he was walking around on our floor. He hadn't gotten to us yet before I left to go to your room" Tuga said.

"Well, here. Let's see" Nicky said walking around the corner. "There it is" she said pointing down the hallway to the gym.

The girls walked down the hallway and got to the gym doors. Quackers looked around and puzzled said"Now, where is Xaiver room"

Off in the distance they heard a faint murmur of talking.

Nicky pointed down the hallway to a room with a light on. "Down there. There is a classroom with its light on. That maybe is the right room."

When they got closer, they were able to make out the words.

"So, Mrs. Andrews, you think that the kids are catching on or do you think they have no idea" It was Mr. Tone.

Then they heard a stapling noise as if they were stapling together the drill.

"I think that a few of them are getting ideas and we have to watch out for them." That was Mrs. Andrews.

They heard more stapling.

"Well, that as a good act you put on earlier today."

"Thank you."

"It was great how you came running down that hill and into the woods."

"Thank you again, Barry, I'm flattered."

Quackers looked at Tuga, who looked at Nicky, who looked back at Quackers.

"Did you hear that? It was Mrs. Andrews who pulled the fire alarm" Tuga whispered.

They listened some more and Mrs. Andrews spoke again. "Why again, Barry, did you want me to run down the hill like a donkey with a bee up his butt"

Mr. Tone laughed"All in good time Didi. It's all part of my plan and it is working perfectly."

Quackers decided it was time to step in. She said loudly, Mr. Tone and Mrs. Andrews would know they were there"So, Nicky, when are you getting that new Eminem CD" and then she whispered"Come on, they know we are here now and won't think we were eavesdropping." Then she walked into Xaiver room.

Nicky and Tuga followed behind.

"Hello girls. Where's Shawna? I saw you with her earlier" Mr. Tone commented.

"Oh, she.um.had to go back to her room. She forgot her room key and wanted to go get it before her roommate left" Tuga said.

"Oh, I see" Mr. Tone said kind of suspiciously.

"Well, we came down to get our drill" Nicky said trying not to get nervous.

"Here you go. Write your names on that paper over there so we can verify you coming down and receiving it" Mr. Tone said pointing to a piece of paper on a table on the other side of the room.

They walked over, signed their names and walked to the door. Before they left, Mr. Tone called to them. "Don't forget to bring your drill to the meeting tonight. One of the things we will be talking about is how to read the drill."

"Ok, we will" Quackers said.

"Oh, and don't forget. You still have five more days of camp. Don't blow it up by being late. I don't want any of you to have to leave. I just wanted to come here and give a good experience to my band" he said.

"Yes, Mr. Tone. We will try not to late again" Quackers said.

Tuga, Quackers, and Nicky walked out in the hallway and back towards the elevators.

"What do you think he meant by what he said" Nicky asked pushing the up button.

"I don't know. You know what" Quackers said holding the door open for the people on the elevator to come out. When they got on the elevator, Quackers finished"You know what I think? Well, I think that he may have some remorse for changing his mind."

"Quackers" Nicky asked.

"Ya"

"You know what I think? I think you are just talking to talk" Nicky said.

"Oh, maybe you are right."

Tuga laughed at them. "What time is it now" She asked.

"Ahh-bout." Nicky said"8:30."

"Ok, so we have to head outside now" Quackers concluded.

"Yup, so lets go to the first floor" Tuga said pressing the one button.

But the lights inside the elevator flicked off.

"Ok, what is going on? I don't think that supposed to happen" Nicky yelled. Just then a voice came over the P.A"You have abused your elevator riding privileges! Now you must pay."


	12. Three Warnings Means go see the Band Mom

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no" Nicky was saying, walking back and forth.

By the time the emergency lights came on and they could see, not perfect, but they could see. Nicky was on the floor kicking her feet like a toddler with a temper tantrum.

Quackers was frantically pressing all the buttons on the control panel.

Tuga walked up to the panel. "Did you try the 'press for emergency' button"

"Ahh, no." Quackers said.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no" Nicky was saying running back and forth again.

"Nicky" Tuga asked.

Nicky stopped running and looked at Tuga"Yes"

"Quit it" Tuga yelled.

Nicky sank to the floor. "Ok" she said.

Quackers opened up the cover for the button and pressed it.

Nothing happened.

Quackers pressed it again. Still nothing happened. Quackers got frustrated and pressed the button repeatedly and low and behold, still nothing happened.

Tuga finally came up with an idea. "Quackers, do you have your cell phone on you"

"Yes" she said, pulling it out of her shorts pockets.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Call someone" Tuga yelled throwing her hands up in the air.

"Ok, well, I'll call RexBob's cell. He is here on campus and would be able to tell Tone that we are stuck in here and maybe they could get us out" Quackers said.

She dialed the number to RexBob's cell phone and pressed the 'send' button.

The phone rang on the other end. Eventually it went to voicemail.

"Hey, Rex. This is Quackers. Please call me back when you get this message. We are stuck in an elevator. Bye" Quackers said and hung up the phone. "Well, he didn't answer."

"What should we do now" Tuga asked.

"Panic" Nicky said getting back up and doing her running back and forth"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no"

"Nicky, please" Tuga said.

Nicky stopped. "You know if I get another warning I'm outta band camp and it's only the first day"

"And if I get a warning, it would be my first" Tuga said.

"And my second" Quackers said.

Just then Quackers' phone rang. She jumped and nearly threw the phone on the floor.

"Hello" she said answering it.

"Hello" said the other voice.

"Umm, hi. Who is this" Quackers asked.

"My name is John. Duh, you should know that. Whatcha doing" John said.

"Umm, John? Who am I" Quackers asked him.

"You? Oh, that's easy. You are Quackers" he said.

"Oh, you're right. How did you get this phone number" she asked him.

"I got it from a kid at school. I sit behind you in math, Quackers" he said.

Whispering, Tuga asked"Who is it"

Quackers covered the mouthpiece on the phone"John from my math class."

"What? Why" Nicky asked, stopping her pacing.

"Donno" Quackers said. "Hey, John, why are you calling anyway? I am kinda busy here."

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just………" he said stopping.

"And who did you get this number from"

"A kid named Nathan. I just call him Nathan kid. He got it from RexBob" John said.

"Oh, now RexBob is passing out my phone number to people" Quackers said.

"Well, kinda. Actually I asked him for the number."

"Why"

"'Cause I like you Quackers. My heart sings with joy whenever..." That's all Quackers heard because she hung up the phone on him.

"Ok, that was weird" she said stuffing her phone back into her pants pockets.

"What did he want" Tuga asked.

"To tell me he liked me! I know him. I did sit in front of him last year. That's it..." she said kicking the side of the elevator.

As she did so, her phone rang again.

Angrily, she pulled the phone out of her pocket and answered it. "Look, John, it's nice and all but..."

"Whoa, wait a minute Quackers" RexBob said.

"Oh, RexBob, it's you! I'm sorry, some John guy just called me to tell me that he liked me. He also told me that he got the number from Nathan who got it from you" she said getting angry again.

"What are you talking about? Nathan got that number from me because he wanted to talk to you. Not because of some John kid. I told him I would give it to him as long as he wouldn't pass it around" RexBob said.

"Oh, sorry for accusing you, Rex" Quackers apologized.

"That's ok" he said"Now you said you were stuck in an elevator"

"Yeah, and we can't get out. Are you out at the meeting"

"Yup. Tone's just took attendance. You, Tuga, and Nicky were the only one's not to show. Tone's over with the chaperones to go find you guys. I heard my phone ringing earlier, but I silenced it so no one would hear. I just got a chance to hear your voicemail and call you back."

"Great story Rex" Quackers said. "So, um, are you going to bust us out of here"

"Uh. You want me too"

"Yes. Who else would"

"Maybe one of the drum majors."

"Rex..."

"What"

"Are you too chicken, Rex, to come and get us" Quackers said getting ideas.

"What? Me chicken? No way! I am getting you outta there if my name isn't Kermit the Frog" RexBob said.

"Umm, your name isn't Kermit the Frog."

"Oh, I knew that."

Then the other side went silent. Quackers hung up her phone.

"What's he doing" Nicky asked.

"Um, I think he's saving us" Quackers said.

"Saving us" Tuga asked.

"Yup. That's what he said. I called him chicken and he said he wasn't chicken. He said he was Kermit the Frog. I have no idea what he was talking about."

"Ha ha, that's funny" Tuga said falling on the floor laughing.

"Tuga, it wasn't that funny" Nicky said.

"Tuga was rolling around on the floor laughing her head off.

"Tuga get up off the floor" Quackers said.

"I forgot what I was laughing at" Tuga said between laughs.

"Well, you were laughing at..."

Just then there was a knock at the elevator door. It startled the girls.

"Is there anybody in there" It was RexBob trying to set the girls free.

Quackers banged back on the doors. "Yes, we're in here" she yelled.

"Ok, hang on in there for a few minutes" RexBob said and they heard him run away.

"Wonder where he's going" Tuga said getting up off the floor.

Then they heard a bang. "What the heck was that" Tuga said falling backwards.

Then there was another bang. "Ok, what is going on out there" Nicky asked.

Quackers banged back on the doors. "Hey! What's going on out there" she yelled.

"I am trying to free you" RexBob answered and then there was another bang.

"Well, how are you trying to free us" Tuga asked.

"Uh" bang. "I have a metal bat that" bang. "I found in the gym" bang. "I am hitting the doors with it" RexBob said and they heard another bang.

"You really think that's going to work" Nicky asked.

"No, but hey, it's worth a shot" RexBob said and bang, he hit the doors again.

Then a miracle happened and the doors opened.

RexBob was about to hit the doors again but because they opened, he hit Quackers in the shoulder accidentally.

"Ow" she yelled.

"Oh, sorry Quackers. Guess you shouldn't stand so close to the doors" RexBob said.

"Thanks, Rex. I'll take that advice next time I'm stuck in an elevator and someone is trying to get me unstuck by using a metal bat" Quackers said rubbing her shoulder.

Nicky laughed at Rex. "So, how did you get out of the meeting"

"Oh, I, uh, told Mr. Tone I forgot my drill in my dorm room. And knowing me, he believed me and let me go get it. So I came down here to bust you out" RexBob explained.

"Well, that explains it" Nicky said.

The four of them walked out of the building and headed toward the practice field.

"Hey, Rex! Did ya hear that earlier, when the fire alarm was pulled, Mrs. Andrews pulled it" Quackers asked him.

"You're kidding" RexBob responded back. "Why would she do a thing like that"

"Because Mr. Tone has a plan for something. We heard Tone and Mrs. Andrews talking when we got our drill from Xaiver room" Nicky explained.

"Oh, so you were eavesdropping were you" RexBob asked.

"Ya, but hey, we need something to do in our spare time" Nicky said.

Everyone was sitting on the ground except for Mr. Tone, Mrs. Andrews, the drum majors, and two other adults.

"Those two people over there by Mr. Tone" RexBob whispered"is Mr. Smithwick and Mr. Dudzinski. Mr. Smithwick helps with the marching and he will have sectionals with the brass section. Mr. Dudzinski is going to help the pit percussion memorize music during the day."

"Oh, it's like you were reading my mind 'cause I was going to ask you about them" Tuga said.

"Wait a minute" Quackers said stopping. Everyone else stopped. "Won't you think he would get suspicious if we all go out on the field at the same time"

"Umm. Yeah. He probably would get suspicious. Well then, who should go first" Nicky asked.

"Well, we should draw straws" RexBob suggested.

"And who here has straws" Tuga asked.

"Well, we all have hands. Lets do rock, paper, scissors" Nicky said.

"Ok, that'll work. Everyone put your hands in the middle" Quackers said.

"Rock, paper, scissors" they said.

RexBob and Nicky picked rock. Quackers picked scissors, and Tuga picked dynamite.

"Tuga? Do you even know how to play rock, paper, scissors" RexBob asked her.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. Dynamite blows up rock, paper, and scissors. Therefore, I win" she said.

"Ok, then. You go first then Tuga" Nicky said as Tuga ran down the hill to the practice field.

"Who should go next" Quackers asked.

"Let's play rock, paper, scissors again" RexBob said.

"You sure that this is going to work? You know, with three people? It works best when you only have two" Nicky said.

"Yeah, it should work fine" RexBob said.

"Ok, then" Nicky said back.

Then they all put their hands in the middle. Nicky picked rock, Quackers picked paper, and RexBob picked scissors.

"Rex? You said it would work with three people" Nicky said.

"Well, lets try it again" RexBob said. "The rock, paper, scissor gods are on my side tonight."

"The rock, paper, scissor gods? Rex? Are you feeling ok" Quackers asked.

"Yes, I feel fine. How else do you figure we get that feeling of which thing we should pick? The rock, paper, scissor gods! That's how" he said.

"Ok, whatever you say. Let's try it again" Nicky said and they tried it again.

Nicky picked scissors, Quackers picked rock, and RexBob picked paper.

"Rex it didn't work again" Quackers said getting a little agitated.

"Well, lets try it one more time" RexBob said.

They did it over and over again and each and every time they picked something different from the rest f them.

"Ok, I have an idea" Nicky said"I'll go next."

"Good idea" Quackers said as Nicky walked down the hill.

RexBob and Quackers were left.

RexBob smiled. "Well, it's dark out and there are just two of us. Catch the drift"

"What? Driftwood" Quackers asked.

"Driftwood? What the heck are you talking about" RexBob asked.

"Never mind. And no. Just because we are out here in the dark, all by ourselves, under the starry skies...Rex, hold me" Quackers said throwing her arms around him.

"What? Are you sure" he asked puzzled.

Quackers began to laugh. "I was just kidding. Geeze, you are so gullible."

"Oh" he said kind of disappointed.

"RexBob! Quackers! You guys are in trouble! Go see Mr. Tone right now"

Quackers up looked to see Ted running up the hill towards them.

RexBob began walking down the hill, towards the practice field, and Quackers followed him.

When the three of them reached the practice field, Quackers over heard Mr. Tone saying"……and you, Nicky. You knew that you already had two warnings. This is your third warning."

Quackers could see Nicky crying.

"Nicky, will you please go see the band moms."


	13. The Warnings are Adding up

Nicky nodded and walked to Mrs. Andrews and the other band moms.

Quackers ran up to her. "Nicky! Nicky"

Nicky turned away from her. Then she turned toward Quackers and said"This is all your fault! If I wasn't hanging with you, then I wouldn't be leaving"

Then Nicky ran away from Quackers and up the hill, where the band moms had to chase after her.

"Oh, poor Nicky" Quackers said.

"Quackers, what is your excuse for being so late to the meeting" Mr. Tone asked her.

"I was stuck in an elevator with the others" she said.

Tuga slammed her hand on her forehead.

"Oh, really? Because Tuga told me she was taking a nap after picking up her drill and Nicky said she had gone to play video games."

"Uh, I'm lying. I went back to my room to polish my flute. I wanted to get it so good that I lost track of time" Quackers said.

"Ok Quackers, whatever you say. Just remember, this is two warnings now and the first day of band camp isn't even over yet" Mr. Tone said.

"Ok" Quackers said and found Tuga.

"Hey, Tuga. You get a warning too"

"Yeah, I did. That's my first one" she said.

Then Mr. Tone turned towards RexBob. "I thought you said you forgot your drill in your room"

"I did" he said.

"Well, how come you don't have it in your hands right now and why do I have it in mine" he asked holding up RexBob's drill in his hands.

A few of the other kids snickered.

RexBob looked kind of nervous and said"Umm. I guess I just misplaced it. That's all."

"Ok then. And you get another warning. That's all" Mr. Tone said throwing the drill back at RexBob.

Rex caught it and quickly sat by Quackers and Tuga.

"Well, so we all have warnings now, eh" RexBob said.

"Yeah, and we better be careful. We don't want to end up like Nicky" Quackers said. Then she sighed. "Poor Nicky. I wonder if we will ever see her again."

"I'm sure we will" Tuga said. "Our cousins came home. We can still see them. It's just that they are not the same."

"Yeah, I know. That's what I am afraid of. I wonder if we will ever see the real Nicky ever again" Quackers said.

"Band" Mr. Tone yelled. "You may go back to your dorm rooms. Lights out is at 10:30. You can do what ever you want till then."

"Band! Dismissed" Jessie yelled and the band members walked away.

Mr. Tone turned on the megaphone"ch.ch.everyone may go back to their rooms except for RexBob, Quackers, and Tuga. I want you to come to the scaffolding."

Quackers stopped in her tracks. "Geeze! When is he going to learn" and she turned around to walk back.

RexBob and Tuga followed behind her.

Mr. Tone was climbing down the scaffolding ladder.

"Yes, Mr. Tone" Tuga asked.

"I was wondering two things" he said. "The first thing is if you can tell me how to read the drill."

"Yes, I can read drill" RexBob said.

"Well we'll find out tomorrow at practice, if you can read the drill or not, by if you are in the right spots or not" Mr. Tone said. "and the other thing that I'd like to know is why you think that Nicky had to leave. Well, why"

"Why? Because she got three warnings and you sent her away and I'm not going to be happy until I find out where she went and what she's doing there! And until I get her back" Quackers screamed and ran away.

She didn't stop running until she got to the front door of the main building where the dorm rooms are.

Quackers kicked the door and screamed"Why did I get dragged into this mess"

Someone came up and tapped Quackers on the shoulder"What mess"

Quackers jumped a mile and turned around. It was Manda.

"Manda? Hey. Arrg. I'm just so mad"

"Why? 'Cause you don't know the secret? The secret of THE THING? How THE THING works, how it comes to be? What it does"

"What are you getting at, Manda"

"Oh, I've done my research. I know how it works" she said pointing to herself. "And if you need any help of any kind, it'll cost ya"

Manda then pushed passed Quackers and walked into the building.

Quackers stomped on the ground and let out an "Arrg"

She walked through the doors and over the to the stairs; she didn't trust the elevators. Quackers walked up the fights of stairs to the sixth floor. She opened the door to the stairwell and headed down the hallway to room 669.

Quackers reached into her pockets and dug for her room key. But she couldn't find it.

"First Manda gets on my nerves and now this" Quackers said as she walked back down the hallway.

When she had gotten to the stairwell when the elevator doors opened and Tuga and RexBob came out.

"Tuga. RexBob. Hey, Rex, you haven't learned anything yet have you"

"Learned what?"

"No guys on the girl's floor!"

"Nah, I just wanted to know why you ran away earlier" he said.

"Well, I donno. I think I lost it. My room mate is gone now, and I don't know if I will see her again. And on top of that, I just lost my room key! I have no idea where it is" Quackers said.

"We'll help you look for your key, right Rex" Tuga said as she turned toward RexBob.

"Uh, yeah. We'll help you" RexBob said, kinda lost in thought.

"It might be out on the practice field" Quackers suggested.

"Maybe we should go find a band mom. They could take us out to go find it" Quackers said. "I don't want to get in trouble again."

"I'll go out there myself. If I don't find it, I'll call and let you know." With that RexBob turned around, ran down the stairs, and left Quackers and Tuga by themselves in the hallway.

"Let's go back down to the first floor and see if anyone has turned it in at the front desk" Tuga suggested.

"That's a good idea" Quackers said and they opened the door to the stairs and started walking down them.

They heard a door slam shut somewhere beneith them.

"Betcha that was Rex" Tuga said.

"Yeah, probably" Quackers said and she sighed.

Tuga looked at Quackers. "Is there something wrong"

"Yes, there is and I wanna be left alone" Quackers said a little too loudly.

Tuga gave a 'I'm sorry' look. Quackers said"I'm just stressing out, that's all."

"That's ok, we all get that way sometimes" Tuga said.

They walked down the stairs in silence and got to the third floor. The door opened and Manda came into the stairwell.

"Well, well, well, well. Fancy meeting you here, Quackers" Manda said. "Are you missing something" she asked in a snotty tone.

"Manda, don't take that tone with Quackers. She's had a bad day" Tuga told Manda.

Manda looked at Tuga. "She's had a bad day? You think she's had a bad day? I've had a terrible day" Manda screamed. She then looked at Quackers"You be careful, I know where you sleep and I will break your nose with my guard flag"

Manda turned around and ran upstairs.

"What a witch" Tuga said.

"Let's just go find my key" Quackers said walking down the hallway.

They had just gotten to the receptionist's desk when RexBob came in through the front door and tapped Quackers on the shoulder.

Quackers turned around and saw RexBob holding up her key.

She threw her arms around Rex and hugged him. "Oh, thank you Rex! You found my key" she said letting him go.

"Yeah, you're, uhh, welcome" he said blushing.

"Now, I'm going back to my room and I'm going to go to sleep. Today has been a long day" Quackers said walking back through the lobby and towards the stairs.

RexBob and Tuga followed after her. Quackers walked up to the fifth floor, RexBob to the fourth floor, and Tuga walked behind Quackers to the fifth.

Quackers walked down to her room and turned on the light. She looked at the window and screamed.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form


	14. Mysteriously Disappeared

Tuga came bounding into the room "Quackers? What's the matter" she yelled.

Quackers pointed to the window. On the window in sloppy red paint was written, 'Nicky was the first to go and you'll be next, I hope you know.'

Tuga looked at the frightened Quackers. "You should go tell a band mom" she said.

Quackers nodded her head and turned around and walked down the hallway where the band mom, who stays up all night, sat on her air mattress, monitoring the hallway.

"You need something" she asked Quackers.

"Yeah" Quackers said trembling. "Someone has been in my room! They wrote stuff on my window"

"What do you mean someone was in your room? Are you sure it wasn't your room mate playing a trick on you" the band mom asked.

"My room mate was taken away. Plus I know she wouldn't do any thing like this" Quackers said.

The band mom stood up. "Now let's see your room."

Quackers walked her down to her room. When the mom got to the door and peered in, she gasped.

The band mom ran into the room and over to the window and touched the paint. "How could you do this? You think that painting words on your window is going to get you to go home, eh? I know how you are thinking. You're thinking that you don't want to be here so you are going to get yourself in trouble so you will be sent home. Well, I'm not going to tell Mr. Tone like you want me to. I want you to wash this window right now and if you don't then you will...you will... well, I'm not so sure yet" the band mom yelled. She turned around and walked back to her post.

Quackers looked at disbelief at the window. "Alright. If no one is going to believe me, I'll get started on this window" Quackers thought aloud.

Tuga walked into the room. "I'll help if you want."

Jessie, the drum major, came into Quackers' room. "I heard you painted your window. Now you have to clean it up yourself, with no help" Jessie said looking at Tuga.

"Ok, ok. I get the point" Tuga said. "See ya tomorrow, Quackers."

Jessie followed Tuga out of the room and shut the door.

Quackers was left to clean the window by herself. She went to the closet and pulled out a towel and took it over to the sink and got it wet.

She went over to the window and pulled back the shades to wipe the window clean. She gasped and dropped the towel.

The words were gone


	15. Nicky?

"What the……?" Quackers said. "That's it! I give up! I need sleep! Nice precious sleep."

Quackers pulled the shades back so they were closed and she changed into her pajamas. She set her phone in the charger and set the alarm for 6:30 am so she had half an hour to get ready and be outside. Her bed was next to the lamp so she had no trouble turning the light off and laying down to sleep.

Within minutes, she was in a deep sleep, stuck inside a nightmare.

Mr. Tone jumped off the top of the scaffolding and glided safely down to the ground. Quackers backed up and began to run. Mr. Tone jumped and flew in front of Quackers making her stop in her tracks. "You can't run from me!" he said bearing his teeth with long fangs. "Well, you can't eat me!" Quackers said. "I don't taste good!" "Let me be the judge of that!" and he sunk his teeth into Quacker's neck.

Quackers woke up and bolted straight up in her bed. "That was really weird," she said. She laid back down and there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" Quackers yelled. In came Tuga, shutting the door behind her. "Hey, Tuga."

"Hey, Quackers."

"How did you get……er……how were you……?" Quackers stumbled.

"The band mom is asleep, go figure. I came in here to ask you if you can hear that?"

"Hear what?" Tuga pointed to the air duct near the celing. Quackers put her ear up next to the duct and heard a moaning.

"No, please no!" she heard.

The person sounded an awful lot like Nicky.

"Nicky!" Quackers yelled.

"That's what I thought too. I think the seventh floor is the torture floor. We need to get up there."


	16. Things are Getting Worse

The next morning, Quackers woke up to her phone alarm. It went off right at 6:30 like it was supposed to. She got up, got dressed, brushed her hair, washed her face, and brushed her teeth.

Quackers unlocked her door and looked into the hallway. She saw a circle of girls near the bathroom door. Since Quackers was headed near the bathroom anyway, she walked over to the girls. Connie, Manda, Tuga, and Shay-Shay were in the circle and they stopped talking when Quackers came by.

"And speak of the devil," Manda said throwing her hair over her shoulder and going into the bathroom. Connie followed Manda into the bathroom and Shay-Shay ran sheepishly to her room.

"What was that?" Quackers asked.

"Oh, they were throwing rumors about you and I was trying to stop them," Tuga said.

"Oh, thank you, I think. What were they saying?"

"That Nicky is gone because of you."

"How so?"

"You, um……"

"I, um, what?"

"You killed her in your bedroom and used her blood to write on your window last night."

"Oh, those meanies."

"Um, don't do anything stupid to them, please."

"I won't, I promise."

"Well, I have to get dressed. We have fifteen minutes to be outside and I can't afford anymore warnings," Tuga said and went into her bedroom.

Quackers went into the bathroom and entered an open stall and closed the door. "That Quackers!" she heard Manda say from the stall next to hers.

"Yeah, she should go next. You know, hanging in her closet next to Nicky!" she heard Connie say a couple stall down.

Manda laughed. "Ya, good one. We need to spread the rumor around that Quackers killed Nicky."

Quackers gasped slightly and had to cover her mouth so Manda and Connie didn't hear her.

"But she didn't, right?" Connie asked.

"No, she didn't. I know the truth and no one else is going to know."

"Not even me, right?"

"Exactly, Connie my friend."

"Are you sure that's fair to Quackers?" Connie asked.

"No, but who cares? All Quackers is, is a big fat mother……"

"Manda! Have you thought about if anyone is going to believe us or not?"

"Yes, and sure they are. They will believe us."

"Why are they going to believe us?"

"We are going to make them believe us!" Manda laughed again and she heard two toilets flush and a couple of sinks run. When the girls left, Quackers was determined to show Manda and Connie that three can play at this game.

Quackers finished up in the bathroom and went back to her room to pick up her flute. Attached to the outside of the door was a picture of a girl holding a flag. She was hanging on a rope and had little X's for eyes.

"Funny. Cute. Hilarious," Quackers yelled as she ripped down the drawing. She grabbed her flute and went back into the hallway. She shut and locked the door and began walking out towards the practice field, with five minutes to spare according to her cell phone.

As she entered into the stairwell, she saw RexBob right below her. "Rex!" she called out and he stopped.

"Yo," he said. "We made it through one night, only four more to go."

"Yeah, five more days, four more nights and two people I have to get personally."

"What do you mean by that?" RexBob asked holding the bottom stairwell door open for Quackers.

"Thanks, Chris!" she said and they both laughed.

"Guess what?" RexBob said.

"What?" Quackers asked getting suspicious.

"No, you have to guess," he said.

"I'm never going to guess."

"Oh, come on, try."

"You heard the rumor that I killed Nicky?"

"Uh, yeah. You guessed it on the first try."

"Lucky guess."

"Yeah, I was going to tell you that there was a rumor going around, but I didn't know you knew already," RexBob said as they were nearing the practice field.

Most of the band was already present. Mr. Tone was up on the scaffolding with his arms behind his head.

"Yeah. I know about it already. Manda and Connie were the ones to start it. Those are the two I want to get personally." Quackers told him the story of how she heard the rumor that morning.

"What meanies!"

"That's what I said!"

They went onto the field which was wet from the early morning dew. The sun could be spotted on the horizon in front of them, just through the trees. Band members were slowly walking to their spots in the basic block. No one was talking but it seamed all were keeping their distance from Quackers.

"Band!" Mr. Tone yelled. He was still laying down but he was on his side now and not his back. "Get into basic block!" That band began assembling into the six across rectangle, with the exception of the percussionists, who stand in a little triangle within the rectangle.

"First, I would like to get something straight," Mr. Tone began. "Nicky is gone because she got sick. She ate some bad cheese yesterday and needed to be sent home. With that, Band Atten Hut!"

The band stood at attention and waited for further directions. It had dawned on Quackers what Mr. Tone had said. Quackers knew what the truth was, and it is that Nicky was sent to THE THING, not home because she was sick and if anyone knew Nicky, they would know she hates cheese. So she would never eat cheese.

Mr. Tone pulled Quackers out of her solitude with his next instruction. "8's and 4's. Mark Time Mark!" the percussionist began to tap the beat and the band began to move forward and stop, move forward and stop, move forward and stop. They kept moving forward until Ted called out, "Band Ready Halt!" The band, given the wrong command, stumbled while they stopped.

Mr. Tone yelled, "AAAHHH! My band! You broke my band!" Someone near the back of the block giggled.

"Who giggled?" Mr. Tone asked. No one said a thing. "I asked you a question. Who giggled? Now answer me or every single one of you get TWO warnings and some of you cannot afford two more warnings!"

Sarah, a freshman trombone player, slowly raised her hand. "I did," she said.

Mr. Tone threw his hands in the air. "Two warnings for you! One for raising your hand and one for talking! No talking while you are at attention!" Everyone in the band was silent. "And you Ted. For breaking my band, you get a warning. Use the right command next time. If a band is in the middle of an exercise, then you use Mark Time Mark! Once they are marking time, THEN you use, Band Ready Halt. GOT THAT?"

Ted didn't speak in fear of another warning.

"I asked you a question!"

Ted nodded his head. He had just moved at attention. But obviously Mr. Tone didn't see because all he did was nod and say, "Good, now carry on."

Ted stood still at attention and looked at Jessie. Jessie looked back at Ted and raised an eyebrow.

"What's the matter drum majors?" Mr. Tone asked them. "Would you babies like some help?"

Jessie nodded slightly and Mr. Tone sighed. "BAND ATTEN HUT!"

"ONE!"

"8's and 4's backwards in seven sets of 8. Mark Time Mark!"

"Hup!"

The band began to move backwards, the drum majors fell out of attention and ran over to the block and Mr. Tone watched the band in silence.

Through the rest of the morning rehearsal, Mr. Tone didn't say word. The drum majors ran basic block, messing up once in a while but not getting any warnings for it. The band members had fear in their eyes the whole time but never let it get in the way of their marching.

Finally, it was time for breakfast. Jessie called the band to attention and dismissed them.

A few of the members quickly ran up the hill and back to the building. Quackers looked for RexBob but couldn't find him. She assumed he had already run up the hill.

She saw Tuga and ran after her. "Hey, Tuga!" she called behind her. Tuga turned around and waited for Quackers to catch up.

"That was the scariest practice I had ever gone through," Quackers said when she caught up to Tuga.

"Ya, and I fear it is only going to get worse."


	17. Missing Band Members

Once inside the main building, Quackers and Tuga went to the fourth floor to the cafeteria. Some of the members were already in line looking at the delicious food being set out for them in the buffet form.

They got in line behind Samantha, a senior bass drum player. This was Samantha's second year as a marcher but first year in the band. She was a former guard girl. "Quackers," she said once the girls got in line. "Are you as scared as I am here?"

Quackers shrugged her shoulders. "Could be worse, I guess."

"I know you're scared, I can see it in your eyes," Samantha said.

"Yeah, I am, but I'm not going to show my fear and I suggest that you don't either."

"Yeah, good idea. Oh, and I'm sorry for even believing for one minute that you killed Nicky. You are a nice girl. Nicky wasn't killed, she went home sick."

Quackers decided not to fight anymore. "Yeah, home. That's where she went." Samantha smiled and took a plate from the plate dispenser.

Tuga slapped Quackers in the shoulder getting her attention. _You know the truth! _Tuga mouthed. _How could you lie like that?_

_I wasn't lying, I'm just tired of being against everyone! Let them believe what they want. We know the truth, _Quackers mouthed back.

Tuga nodded. They took plates from the plate dispenser and put them on trays. On the buffet table, there were eggs, sausage, bacon, and cereals of many kinds.

"This all looks so good!" Tuga said.

"I don't know. That extra 'something' they put in our food to help us with marching kinda scares me. I'm just going to eat some of the cereal. They can't put that stuff inside a box, can they?" Quackers asked.

"I wouldn't see how. They boxes are sealed pretty tight," Tuga said studying a box of Rice Krispees.

Quackers took the box of cereal to her table and sat down. Tuga brought her tray of eggs and sausage to the table and sat down next to Quackers. "Well, I know that the breakfasts are good. I mean just look at these eggs! They are defiantly not bouncy like at the Colombier Center from the past," Tuga said.

"Yeah, I remember that. Oh! Remember the horse and carriage that traveled around the campus and the horse disappeared and the next morning we had sausage?" Quackers said.

"Oh……yeah……" Tuga pushed the sausage off her plate. "How about when Mr. Tone inhaled the Skittles wrapper while in the middle of a 'breathing tube' demonstration." Tuga laughed.

"Those PVC piping breathing tubes were a pain. I kept loosing mine."

"Me too!" Tuga laughed again.

They laughed and talked and reminisced for the rest of breakfast. Quackers them realized that she hasn't seen RexBob in a while.

"Where's Rex?" Quackers asked Tuga.

"You know what? I don't know. I haven't seen Jack in a while either," Tuga said.

They got up from the breakfast table and went up to their rooms, using the stairway. Not many people were in the hallway, most were still eating.

Tuga went into her room and Quackers unlocked the door to her room and had just walked inside when she heard Tuga scream.


	18. 'Two down, 179 more to go'

Quackers ran back into the hallway and ran back to Tuga's room. "Tuga! What's wrong?" Quackers asked.

Tuga had tears running down her cheeks. "This," she managed to choke out. "I know where Rex and Jack were during breakfast now."

Tuga handed Quackers a piece of paper. Quackers took the paper and read it. "Hello Tuga! You are probably wondering where I am. Well, in your room. I know I probably shouldn't be in here but because I LOVE you so much, I thought I should tell you. Oh, RexBob's in here with me too. Well, I miss you. Wish I could be with you at breakfast right now! Love, Jack."

"Why were they in your room?" Quackers asked Tuga.

Tuga looked under her bed. "I have no clue. I don't see anything missing and nothing new. Oh, except this." In the mirror above the sink was a card. "What's this and where did it come from?" Tuga asked. She opened up the card and read aloud, "Dear Tuga, I have a little game for you / It may end in a prize / This card, you ask, is from who/ Well, Tuga, use your eyes / Come down to the lobby with on your foot a shoe / and a reward you will get that's big in size / Now enough with the rhymes / I'm beginning to sound like some mimes." Tuga shut the card and handed it to Quackers.

"I have to go to the lobby," Tuga said pulling on some shoes.

"Sounds like fun. Can I follow?" Quackers asked.

"Sure, this amateur poetry writer kinda scares me at times," Tuga said. "How long do we have to get outside?"

"It is 8:30. We have 45 minutes," Quackers answered.

"Ok, let's go see what's those guys are up to!"

They went to the end of the hallway and opened up the door to the stairwell. They went down to the lobby and looked all over for Jack and RexBob. Instead they found Mr. Tone and the drum majors.

"Hide," Quackers said quietly to Tuga. They hid behind a couch near Mr. Tone and the drum majors. They couldn't see them but could hear them.

Ted spoke first. "Mr. Tone. I don't think it's fair that you gave me a warning. I'm your drum major. You can't get rid of me!"

Jessie spoke. "Ted! Hold your tongue."

Mr. Tone spoke next. "Because, Ted, I am your superior and I feel this band would be better with out you."

"What?"

"I think you should go see the band moms." Ted didn't speak. "Jessie, I would like you to go find Sammi and tell her she gets to assume Ted's position. Go!" Jessie got up and ran by Quackers and Tuga to go look for Sammi.

"You can't do this to me, Mr. Tone. You need me!" Ted yelled.

"I beg to differ." Quackers and Tuga could hear some rustling and then a beep noise. "Mrs. Andrews, I have a student for you to take to the receptionist. The code is 'homesick.'"

Quackers looked at Tuga. "He's not sick! Where are they taking him?"

"Probably the same place Nicky is. You know something?"

"What?"

"The prophecy on my window was wrong. It said I was the next to go. But really Ted is. Someone was wrong."

"Yeah. You're right!" Tuga said.

Near Mr. Tone was a beep and then someone said, "Ok, Barry. I will be there in a minute." Quackers concluded that it was a radio and Mrs. Andrews had one.

"I still say you can't get rid of me!" Ted said.

"Don't question my authority," Mr. Tone said.

Just then, Mrs. Andrews entered the lobby. "I'm here for the student."

"He's right here."

"But that's the drum major!" she said. "Are you sure you are making the right choice?"

"Are YOU questioning my authority?"

"No! No, Barry. I'm sorry. Forgive me!" Mrs. Andrews pleaded.

"Then do what you are told and take this student."

"Yes, sir."

Mrs. Andrews took Ted and went towards the receptionist's desk. Mr. Tone got up from his seat on the couch and muttered, "Two down, 179 more to go."


End file.
